Introduction

Every country’s economic formation is very key in determining the structures of conducting businesses and laws in controlling the economy. In this assignment, I have chosen the movie “Saving Capitalism” and articles around capitalism and economic politics to connect the different authors’ views with the economic concepts learned in the course. The issue of capitalism is believed to impact negatively some social and business ethics, with most people advocating for a social economy that contributes to the economic growth of the entire society instead of particular individuals. The articles in the discussion will be: “What ‘Capitalism’ is and How It Affects People” by Kim Kelly, “How Common Is Unethical Behavior in U.S. Organizations?” and “Capitalism, Globalisation and Inequality” by Salim Siddiqui.

There is a very close link between the videos, the articles, and the concepts with some convergence and divergence. The video, “Saving Capitalism,” is a provocative film illustrating the drawbacks of capitalism in the United States but in a sarcastic manner. The movie elicits some interviewees and viewers’ fury when the people ask the interviewer why he should defend capitalism in any way. The video also shows the slanderous attacks on the billionaires in the country by the ordinary people, which indicates the different perceptions towards capitalism. The producer of the film, Reich, establishes that some super-wealthy people have greatly hijacked the capitalist system of the United States. These people push for some specific policies that are aimed to protect their wealth and enrich them. He supports the reforms on finance campaigns for the economic system to be fairer. Salim Siddique supports this through the article, “Capitalism, Globalisation and Inequality” that capitalism has negatively impacted many economies globally, creating a societal divide between the rich and the poor. According to Siddiqui, in the article, the trend of accumulation of wealth was introduced in the European countries and spread to other nations, encouraging people to earn their wealth through some unethical procedures, increasing the gap between the poor and the rich. The video and the article share the same direction of argument that capitalism creates a big gap in the standards of living among people in the United States and globally.

The two: “Saving Capitalism” and “Capitalism, Globalisation and Inequality” differ with Kim’s article “What ‘Capitalism’ is and How It Affects People” on the contribution of capitalism to the economy. Kim largely focuses more on the positive impacts of the Capitalistic concept than the negative impacts. Even though the two sources provide insights on capitalism both in the United States and globally, Kim argues that development in many economies has been contributed by the capitalistic policies that encourage entrepreneurship and personal strive for economic growth. Kim gives both reasons behind advocacy for capitalism and opposition towards the type of economy. He notes that the critics of capitalism related it with anti-democracy, unsustainability, and inhuman trade. According to the critics, the capitalist bosses possess power over the workers working for them, posing an oppressive environment against the poor. The author presents reasons why people support a capitalistic economy because it encourages entrepreneurship and ethical business competition through the Keynesian theory of balancing demands and supply in the market.

Business ethics is a key topic in the current business structure since many issues surround the business environment. The article “How Common Is Unethical Behavior in U.S. Organizations?” explains ethical issues surrounding major business organizations and the United States’ general business environment. The article merges very well with the other three sources on capitalism’s effect since the United States is one of the capitalist economies. The article discusses the effectiveness of ethical business policies to guard against the exploitive capitalistic practices by business owners. According to the authors of the article, there are numerous unethical practices in the workplaces like assaults, wage theft, bullying, and poor working conditions, which aim to maximize the profits for the business companies in the country. This links with the disadvantages of capitalism as named by the three other sources.

Political orientation

The four sources are guided by two political orientations: collectivism and communism. From the sources, it is clear that the capitalistic view is negatively branded by society, and thus, a new move should be taken by the governments and the stakeholders to change the state. The video “Saving Capitalism,” argues that capitalism is faced with challenges but with the government’s support through some benevolent oversight can be of benefit to all Americans. This indicates that capitalism poses an ethical dilemma whereby its benefits and ethical issues hit against one another, making it hard for the author to dictate on absorbing it or ejecting it from the economic system. This indicates a great push for a communist economy, which is largely practiced by countries in the Middle East and China. According to Kim, the capitalist view cannot alone facilitate the growth of a country, and thus incorporation of socialism to a certain degree creates a balance within the society. The author notes that the United States has incorporated some socialism ideas like the universal healthcare system to cater to all Americans, unlike the capitalistic situation whereby the people without good income cannot access quality healthcare. Globalization is a key factor in business and economic development. Both capitalism and communism types of economies meet in the global market and compete against one another. Capitalism has been greatly affected by globalization due to international regulations and business culture that does not support capitalism. China has been a great challenge to the United States and other global players in business due to its communistic view. Low prices have beaten high capitalistic prices. The articles and videos are driven by the political war between communistic and capitalistic economies, whereby communism is indicating more support than capitalism.

Some sources are surprising, especially about the impact of globalization on capitalism. I expected that globalization was the best avenue to flourish, but the author notes that capitalism has been negatively bombarded by the socialistic norms aimed at protecting societies. The author observes that most international regulations and the emergence of social democratic governments under the Keynesian economic policies reduced capitalism’s strength, supporting socialism. Capitalism is believed to be driven by greed, but the supporters believe that it is “good greed” and only aims to solve customers’ needs competitively. Capitalism is ideal for giving the customers a broad choice of products and services depending on the customer’s quality, but this is not what is largely preached by the sources. The sources bring a very negative feature of capitalism, indicating how toxic it is to the economy and the general economy, but not the positive sides of the type of economy contributing to the development and better delivery of services and products. This was unexpected.

Learning Outcomes

There are three “take-aways” learned through this analytic assignment. There is a question about the advantages and disadvantages of capitalism in the United States of America. This is a revolving key question in all seeks to review the benefits of capitalism and the negative implications that accompany the type of economy. It has been established that the capitalistic economy encourages creativity, innovation, competition for quality products and services, and a fast economic development than the communist economy. The disadvantages attached to the capitalistic economies are increased unethical business practices and suppression of the poor, creating a bigger gap between the poor and the rich, among other negatives. Another solved takeaway is on the effects of globalization on capitalism. The opening of the global markets has affected capitalism, with the international community pushing for more socialistic approaches to the people’s needs than the capitalistic method. This has led to a reduced space for capitalism to surge. Business ethics is a core topic that cuts across all economies for fair, just, and secure business operations. This research has given insight into several ethical issues facing capitalism, which is probably contributing to its lack of support in the United States. Business ethics dilemma is a very tricky situation for capitalists, whereby they cannot cross a line of ethics despite the available business opportunities afore them.

References

Kelly, K. (2020).What ‘Capitalism’ Is and How It Affects People. TeenVogue. Link:https://www.teenvogue.com/story/what-capitalism-is

Siddiqui, K. (2018). Capitalism, Globalisation, and Inequality. The World Financial Review. Link: https://worldfinancialreview.com/capitalism-globalisation-and-inequality/

Zorana, I., Jochen I., & Anna, M., (2020). How Common Is Unethical Behavior in U.S. Organizations? Managing organizations. Link: https://hbr.org/2020/03/how-common-is-unethical-behavior-in-u-s-organizations

Appendix

Definition of terms

Communists: Those who believe socialism can be achieved only through revolution and totalitarian dictatorship
Ethical dilemma: Situation in which no available alternative seems ethically acceptable.
Globalization: Trend away from distinct national economic units and toward one huge global market

Research and analysis paper

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Introduction

Political orientation

Learning Outcomes

References

Appendix

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